Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Calming down

Cooking always makes me feel better. I just blanched some tomatoes for a marinara sauce that's stewing on the stove top as these words are being typed. There are eggplants roasting in the oven so that I can freeze them or make a little baba ganoush for enjoying at work tomorrow. It's gives me a piece of mind to save the bounty of our summer Organic farm share. That way we can use it through the winter. There's only two more weeks of produce pick ups. Then it's back to Wholefoods, or whole "pay check", until next summer.

There are a couple of urban indoor gardening methods I can apply through the winter. Perhaps I can experiment with some hydroponics. I'll certainly have to start up the sprouting again. It's so easy. I know my husband would never go for the sprouts, and neither will my son. We'll see. I'd like to start enforcing salads in this household on a regular basis.

There are also navy beans soaking in the crock pot. While I work the cooking will continue in that pot, baking beans with molasses and bacon inspired by some recipe from Boston.

The temperature is still close to 80 these days, and it doesn't feel like fall. Yet I'm preparing for the winter. I'm praying for lots of snow so that I can be forced to stay at home, relax and enjoy some of these things I prepared. We will have all we need even if the power goes out, we can light a fire. And we will have each other.

Please buy this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Custom-Built-Motorcycles-Chopper-Big-Bear-Chopper-Athena-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eb021565aQQitemZ200523470426QQptZUSQ5fmotorcycles#ht_674wt_954

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

From bad to worse

The drive home from my quick guest spot took all of the life out of me. A scary sound from the front of my car presented itself last week. It didn't cause me great worry until the ride home. I had to demystify this mysterious noise, so off to the dealer I went. It was an expensive diagnosis. Over one hundred buccaroos for an oil change and to tell me that the wheel bearing was about to stop moving at any unsuspected moment. Yet I drove onward, about 30 miles, until paranoia settled in. I worried about the wheel getting stuck, the car spinning around, and then an unknown demise would follow me. If I was lucky then I would survive unscathed, but the worst case scenarios burdened my mind. They always do. I was now determined to turn around, and get it fixed... Spending another $500 is positively worth me living. The time wasn't wasted since it was spent with some extended family members, and we rarely get to see each other the past couple of years.

Now the car seems to ride as smooth as silk. It might be dented all about, but that's only superficial to me. In our present shaky financial situation, I'm satisfied with a dented up, stinky, stained, less than fair looking yet smooth driving car.

Then hours later, I took the long ride. My mind raced the entire time. I'm helpless against my own thoughts. Trying to keep a positive outlook while peering out of the windshield into the rainy fogginess was virtually impossible. My poor friends that lent their ears to my hemming and hawing while I drove. It keeps me from sinking deeper. Then I hang up and am drowning in the desperation of my mind.

It didn't get better after arriving at home. Although today is a new day, adn I'm excited to spend time with my son. Except I can't find the glue. For when he wakes up from his afternoon slumber, the plan was to make a wreath of construction paper, autumn colored hands. While my young one rests and my husband is diligently searching away on his computer, I have no idea what to do with myself but write. Being wrapped up in all of this work and traveling has caused me to lose myself.

There is hope that I'll find myself again. Something will present itself, and I will come out of the funk. Perhaps a conversation, a bottle of wine, some cooking.... Drawing, painting. There are so many ideas, but I'm unmotivated to do anything including relax. So here I sit in utter anxiousness and on edge.

Monday, September 27, 2010

ATT&T said it best....

"You should've called." That I should have done. My trip planned to NH has complicated since Jim is on vacation, and his room is locked. The tattoos on Sunday all went well. 3 hours each after a 5.5 hour drive.

My two other dudes I had to cancel on aren't quite happy with the mishap. I texted Kelly the other day, and it seems like ATT&T didn't get the text through. SO when I sent her the message again that I was coming, Jim was already gone to his anniversary vacation in Texas. The room is locked, and I'm on a coup;e of people's shit list.

Now yet another trip is planned for two weeks from now. Or three. I can't count. I'm so tired and waiting for my early bird appointment. We're using Kelly's room before she gets in to work. My friend is now 2 minutes late. My fingers are speed typing to get this all out.

I'm tired, but I do it for my family. It's not like I'm away hooting and hollering and having a relaxing time. Believe me, I'd love to. After this, I'll clean it up, pack it up, and drive my little butt back to South Jersey. 6 hours of rainy yuckiness in the car through big cities where I'd love to stop in and explore, but I have to drive to my home. It'll be nice to cuddle with my little man and be woken up all night by his cries for mama. It's all exhausting, but it's worth it in the end. Bread winning, making some sick tattoos, and being tired as hell is my life.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Lord grant me the serenity

To make it through the next 5 days, I'm going to need a lot of caffeine. I'm working 3, 10 hour shifts back to back - today in Philadelphia at No Ka Oi, and Friday and Saturday in Pennsauken, New Jersey at Body Graphics. On Sunday morning the 330 mile journey to NH will begin at 6am. Then I'll be working at Jim's Tattoo the next two days, and driving home promptly after cleaning and packing up. Starbucks here we come.

In tough times. this is what I do. It's difficult being in a reverse role of the norm. My dreams are to be a SAHM, but this isn't in the cards for now. I envision that things will work out with new business ventures of my spouse, and there will be a change soon.

Alas there is a break in the near future. We're venturing into the White Mountains of NH, where I lived for 5 years, for 4 days or so. There we'll visit some of my best friends. It'll be so nice to breath the crisp air and see the deciduous delights. Good times with old friends will be happen. Maybe we'll hike, bike, or see a bear or even a moose. It would be fantastic. Four days doesn't seem like enough time.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Don't call me a hippie, I'm just old fashioned



This morning I'm especially in the mood for autumnal activities. Thankfully , there's plenty to do. My husband bought a freezer the other day per my request, and now we have to fill it.

Taking up space in the new appliance will be easy. Tomorrow we're purchasing 1/8 of a grass fed cow. In a couple of weeks, we're buying 1/2 of a pig. I also plan on freezing some of the bounty from our Organic farm share. We have an uncountable number of squashes in different varieties, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and onions. Figuring out how to store some of things has been interesting. Some preserving techniques are better than others. While certain vegetables are more palatable if cooked, roasted, or blanched prior to freezing.


Many many moons ago, I actually had a home made root cellar type contraption. We hung heads of cabbage in the mud room and stored carrots in saw dust in a trough. Presently we don't even have those vegetables.

Sometimes I'm baffled at what to do with the produce. I love the Farm share, but we can't manage to eat everything we get week to week. Not that I'm complaining since we're certainly getting our money's worth of $185 for 11 weeks of produce. I just don't want it to go to waste. Some of it certainly has. We acquired so much Kale and din't even touch it except one week. Please pass on any delectable recipes including Kale. Also recipes for patty pan squash are appreciated.

Other chores aren't as fun as cooking. We are organizing our nests, getting ready for winter, and putting summer clothes away. Getting all of our ducks in a row and hoping for a snow filled winter.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Everything happens for a reason



Yesterday morning we booked a room to visit the Jersey Shore for their bike week called "Roar to the Shore". Too bad that we didn't actually make it. Shortly after we started our ride there, I had to stop for a bathroom break. As I stepped off of the chopper I lost my balance from a heavy back pack and gouged next to my knee with a sharp decorative part on the fender to the right of this paragraph. It was pretty bad. You could see the fatty tissue and it was a pretty big wound.


My husband's step father picked us up so we could venture to a local ER. A good looking Dr used seven stitches to sew me up. After a tetanus shot, we were on our way. We decided to make the best of the day and hit a few local bars for food and drinks.

I'm totally bummed because now I have to heal this awful laceration, and it's going ot make my life difficult for a couple of weeks. The one good thing is that now my hubby has decided that it's a good idea to trade in the chopper for something safer. The chopper is custom built with a sleek and many extremely sharp parts. It's better to have gouged my knee than to do worse to my husband. And I officially get my way.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Kick ass Zucchini Slaw Recipe

Apparantly this was a hit today at a play date so I decided to post the recipe. Zucchini is such an easy vegetable to grow, and we've had an abundance of it from our Organic Farm Share this year!!

Ingredients:

6 med. zucchini or 1 large - grated

2 tsp. salt

1 lrg. carrot - grated

1 med. red bell pepper - seeded, julienne (I didn't use this but I would've if I had it)

1 rib celery - minced

1 sm. onion - minced (I used a red onion)

2 Tbls. chopped fresh parsley ( I didn't use this but I would've if I had it)

2 Tbls. chopped fresh dill weed

3/4 cup mayonnaise - low-fat okay

2 Tbls. Dijon mustard

2 Tbls. red wine vinegar

1 Tbls. olive oil

1 Tbls. honey

1/4 tsp. black pepper

raisins (optional)

-Combine zucchini and salt; toss well.-Place in colander and let stand for 30 minutes.

-Rinse under cold water, drain, and squeeze out excess moisture.

-Place zucchini in bowl and add carrot, red pepper, onion, raisins and celery; toss well.-Sprinkle with parsley and dill.

-Combine mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, oil, honey, and pepper; stir into zucchini mixture.-Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.